The UC Irvine Men’s Volleyball team (10-13, 3-5) defeated their Big West rivals Cal State Northridge (6-13, 1-7), 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22), in a tense four-set match at the Matadome on April 8. With this win, the Anteaters ended their four-game losing streak and are looking ahead to capture more victories as they approach the end of conference play.
The first set of the match kicked off with a thunderous kill from sophomore outside hitter Francesco Sani, hoping to establish rhythm and momentum for the Anteaters. Both teams exchanged points early throughout the set until Irvine gave up a few crucial points on unforced errors. The Matadors took an early lead in the initial part of the match as a result.
Trailing behind, Irvine knew they needed to gain big points to take control of the set. After the media timeout, the Anteaters began to reestablish their presence in the Matadome.
Down 13-15, UCI racked up some major points to regain the much-needed lead. With a sideout kill from junior middle blocker Aiden Wolf-Nielsen and a transition kill from Sani, the match was set even at 15-15. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Conner Dahm subbed in and served up a clutch ace to give his team the advantage.
UCI cruised past CSUN using their offensive momentum, ending the initial set at 25-23.
Heading into the second set, the environment remained the same throughout each point. Each squad blew back-to-back points, waiting on one another to give away a critical error to the opposition.
Unfortunately, UCI succumbed and gave a slight lead to the Matadors at 16-15. Trailing by only one point, the Anteaters needed to manufacture some massive plays to stay ahead of CSUN.
With an attack error from Northridge, UCI was given a comeback opportunity to take charge. Sani once again produced a bouncing kill down the line, making it 21-20. Soon, CSUN sideouts were promptly followed by a quick kill from the middle by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Doug Dahm. Sani then earned a signature Sani ace across the court. With no response of their own, CSUN gave Irvine the set and 2-0 lead.
With hopes of going home with the sweep, the Anteaters were determined to stay steady heading into the third game. Yet, their hopes quickly dwindled as the early lead went to the Matadors. The ‘Eaters were down, 0-4, after heavy Matador service pressure, leading to errors from the Irvine side.
Sticking with this common theme, UCI was behind heavily and needed to create miraculous plays to close the major scoring gap. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Cole Gillis took matters into his own hands. He went on a six-point serving run at 7-11, recorded three aces and changed the game to 13-11.
The ‘Eaters could see the end of the match; however, the Matadors ramped up their performance and added on the pressure. With this constant pressure, Northridge was able to switch the scores and change the momentum of the match in their favor.
With collective amounts of errors from UCI offensively and defensively, Cal State Northridge took the third set with 25-23.
Tensions were high starting the fourth and final game of the match. The Matadors were looking to extend the game to a fifth; yet, the Anteaters had a different plan in mind.
Points were exchanged early in the game, causing leads to switch constantly. The two teams battled for complete possession of the set, but it was UCI that took the wheel and drove towards the ending 25 points.
It was a collection of defensive plays that gave the ‘Eaters the advantage midway and late into the fourth. Back-to-back blocks from Wolf-Nielsen with help from junior outside hitter Akhil Tangutur created space for UCI.
At 21-19, Wolf-Nielsen built a house over the CSUN offense once again to give his team the “go” for a final push to end the match. In the end, it was Tangutur who said “Goodnight Irene” and ended the match with a kill with no blockers up, finishing in glorious fashion of 25-22.
The Anteaters hosted a rematch at the Bren Events Center on April 9 at 7 p.m., ultimately taking their second victory over CSUN on the special debut of Court 21. Read about it here.
Brian Garcia is a Sports Staff Writer for the spring 2022 quarter. He can be reached at briang7@uci.edu.
